Shepherdless pie (recipe)

I hate throwing food away, especially because we try and buy organic when possible and that shit is expensive! Shepherdless pie is one of my favorite ways to use up veggies before they go bad.

Generally when i post food ideas people always ask for specific amounts and i try my hardest to measure or estimate but for this... i simply can't. For me, most of the fun in cooking is learning to eye-ball it and for this recipe, you're just throwing in whatever you have!

Some yummy things you can throw in:

• Lentils
• Beans (kidney work well but heck, so do baked beans!)
• Veggie mince (skip this for a wheat free option)
• Fresh herbs or dried (think rosemary, thyme, sage... salt and pep)
• Peas
• Tomatoes
• Left over pasta sauce
• Mushrooms
• Chopped up veg sausages
• Gravy
• Carrots
• Peppers
• Onion
• Garlic
• Use your imagination!

Get your potatoes boiling, preheat the oven (350, i think) and move onto the filling!

I start with some olive oil in a big pan and add my chopped onions, cook them til they start to go see-thru. (now is a good time to add the garlic and herbs, too)

Now you can start adding the rest! I like to add the mince and lentils, then veggies and lastly whatever sauce i have on hand. Cook it in the sauce pan til the veggies are as soft as you like them. Parboil the carrots prior to adding them if you don't like them too crunchy.

Drain and mash your potatoes- i like to add a little earth balance butter, some nutritional yeast and some soy milk (hemp works well too) so its easy to spread over the top.

Put your mixture into a heavy casserole dish and dollop on your mash then i like to drag a fork over to create a little crunch once its done. You can put a little S&P or other seasonings on top, too. 

If you're making it in advance you can let it cool then cover it with foil and put it in the fridge. Otherwise put it in the oven for 10 min or so depending on if you need to cook the veg more or not. 

Switch the oven to broil (grill for the UK peeps) and leave it in til the top is crispy and brown. If i'm especially hungry and have made it then, i just skip to the broil stage since everything is already nice and hot.

Et Voila... c'est fini! 

Labels cottage pie food gluten free health left overs organic recipe shepherdless pie shepherds pie vegan vegetables wheat free